Kitchen remodel - pantry wall removal

FLHC

We are getting ready to renovate our small kitchen. One of the things we want to do is knock out a few of the walls that are part of our current pantry and instead put in either cabinets or a stand-alone pantry.

Currently, the back wall of our pantry does not go floor to ceiling. So, my main question is how much weigh can that wall support? Would that be stable enough to hang a 30X39 wall cabinet on it?

Second question, for someone who has never done much drywall work, would this be a difficult task to knock out the walls and then hang new drywall? I am pretty handy and learn quickly. Not sure from a price perspective though and the size of the job if it may be cheaper to have someone do it since I don't readily have all the tools probably required...

Please see the attached pictures for better examples of what we will be working with. When looking at the front of the pantry, we want to knock out the front wall containing the door and the right side. I also attached a few mock up pictures for what we would be looking to do instead.

Attached Thumbnails

       

byrnebox

About your cabinet question, it depends how much the cabinet weighs so I can not really answer that...

But in terms of drywall:
The hanging of the drywall is the easiest part by far, and you would have the tools to do that, you just screw the drywall panels in. The mudding and sanding you can pick up on pretty quick it is not a complicated process. Now the part that I would hire a professional for if you have never done it before is the texture, it is an art that takes some time to master. As well as you need to have special tools for that. If you want to save some money do it all your self then hire someone to come in and spray the texture on.